The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-05-04
PRECIOUS STONES.
MANY OF THEM THAT ARE LITTLE
KNOWN BUT VERY VALUABLE.

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Garnet and BloOdstOne-A Long Lis
of Valuable Gems.
ssOur people have to be educated in tn
matter of approaching certain valuabl
stones. The people of London and New
York are thoroughly posted en- the sub
ject of stones, and therefore they know
the value of them. Out here the diamon'
is looked upon as the most valuable
fact, the only really precious stone tina
there is. AS consequence we labor I'm
der a disadvantage, as compared witt
dealers in the east OF course, / know
that there are some here who are Informed
on the subject of precious stones, but
mean that as a class our people have
much to learn. For instance, if were tt
ask almost anybody that came in here i
he would like to buy an Alexandria h'
would not know what I meant"
''Tell me something about gems. What
is an Alexandrite?''
''It is dark green in color by daylight
and dark red at night. 1t is named after
the car Of Russia, and owes its celebrity
to its prominent hues of red and green
the chosen embIematic colors of thai
empires flag. y *
''Is it true that you can't break dia-
mond?'
GA diamond will crack or break as any
other stone, but the cracking will reduce
$1,000 to nothing, spite of the vulgar
tradition that you can't break a dia-
mond. Only about one in ten is royal,
the others being black or colored useful
in the arts"
VALUATION OF DIAMONDS.
F'How,do you get at the value of dia-
monds % f465
''The valuation of gems is arbitrary,
depending on many considerations. Among
them is water If perfectly limpid,
is classed 'f1rs5 water Color comes
next. Colorless ranks highest, whit
ish next, while the merest suspicion
of green or blue rather heightens
the rank of white stones. Rose comes
next, and then yellow or amber, but they
must all be perfect in water and fawless
to rank among the first class.
"What about agates ?''
"They are translucent to transparent
all colors. Agates are built up layer on
layer, sometimes hundreds to the inch
Those stained by manganese or iron in
moss like figures and veins moss agates),
sometimes closely resembling persons and
things, command very high prices
HCan you give me chapter on the
amethyst 20
cit is transparent, purple or violet in
color. A cluster as mined generally con-
tains other crystals of blue, green, yellow,
red, gray and white. The red crystals are
properly rose quartz, the clouded ones
smoky quartz; the green are praise, the
yellow false topaz and the perfectly clear
are rock crystals. The finest rock crys-
tails are found in great numbers near Hot
Springs, Ark, in Diamond mountain. >"
"What is a hard stone aside from the
diamond?'
'sThe aquamarine-a transparent beryl
of greenish blue. It is lovely stone-sis-
ter of the emerald, and very hard. It Will
cut all the amethysts, but not the topaz,
and is not affected by acids. The chryso-
bery1 (cat's eye is very hard but ranks
below sapphires, rubies, etc. 1t is trans
parent to translucent green in many
shades. The chrysoprase is apple green,
and some stones are very beautiful and
highly valued
Chow does the emerald rank"
''The translucent or subtransparent and
green variety of the beryl, just as the
aquamarine is the transparent and blue
variety, but it is very much more highly
priced. Emeralds rank next to the dia-
mond, ruby and finer sapphire. Oriental
rs the green sapphire-very rare,
very beautiful and very valuable
Are there stones that can be passed for
another?'
''The garnet, which is transparent and
red, depends upon its value altogether on |
It's looks, for it can often pass as a ruby |
''What is a bloodstone?'
ga variety of chalcedony of a deep green I
,olor, variegated with blood-red or vel
owish spots. 1t is properly called hello
rOpe.''
Name some other. stones. I've run
,utn
LONG LIST OF GEMS.
There is the hyacinth cinnamon stone,
transparent, yellow, red and brown
here are garnet hyacinths and zircon n.y.
clnths. Although its intrinsic qualities
light to rank the zircon hyacinth first,
be market rates it second. Then there is
he lagalite (blue SPAR, translucent and
eep blue. Only the fine varieties are
alued for jewelers. purposes. Next the
nalachite, translucent green, used for
locks, vases and parlor ornaments, slabs,
&c. Mexican onyx, translucent greenish
7hite, with veins of all colors, makes
ovely paper weights, WRISTBANDS, pipe
owls, etc. The onyx is constructed in
Inns or layers of different colors like the
gate, except that in the onyx the films
re laid fiat, while in the agate they are
ke the Feelings of an onion. The ONYX
chiefly valued for cutting canoes The
holce colors in true onyx are white, black
no Drown. Sardonyx has also film of
arnelian red. The opal is TRANSPARENT
mite, pale yellow, gray, green and red.
owes its value to its peculiar power of
zhtbit1ng wonderful play of colors as it
turned to various angles. The most re-
variable is the fire opal. Precious opal
the very finest and most delicately
laded and tinted of fire opals. Of the
1by there is the spinel, transparent light.
edium or dark red. The oriental sap
hire ruby is of the same description, and
Try difficult to distinguish from the gpi-
II. 1t Is a degree harder. As a general
lie the Orientals are the most valuable,
Id spinels of equal beauty are handi-
pped by reputation. Oriental rubies of
70 very finest qualities are more valuable
an diamonds Of the same weight.
LET me see-there is the sapphire.
azure, celestial, ETC., and
ne. Sapphires of the most celestial hue
q. all, other good qualities are worth
uch less than oriental rubies of the same
se- Yellow sapphires are called oriental
paz, green ones oriental emerald and
0Iet ones oriental amethysts. The
ecious topaz is transparent and yellow.
lere are other varieties-greenish blu
/, reddish and some are perfectly color
IS. When these are entirely transpar- {
and otherwise perfect they have q high
lue also, for they often pass as rubies,
pphireS and diamonds. Another highly
$50